This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mary O. wrote: "... This is our first colt and he should probably be gelded, although I'd like a couple of opinions on this too...."
Chuck and I went back and forth for months about gelding Samfinn, our handsome Fjord colt. He's out of our mare Sissel by Ursula and Brian Jensen's young stallion Samstein. Ultimately, the -only- reason we could see for keeping him whole is specifically to be a breeding stallion -- as a family "using" horse, he's far more valuable and useful as a gelding. There may be a mystique about owning and training a stallion (for example, see Walter Farley's _The Black Stallion_ and other stories), but I think the hazards and problems outweigh the advantages, even if the stallion is well-mannered and well-trained. Some questions that we discussed when we made our decision to geld Finn were: Is our colt truly good enough to be a breeding stallion? Are his genes an irreplaceable asset to the Fjord gene pool? Do we have the facilities and pastures to keep a stallion with a band of bred mares or, second best, with a herd of geldings, rather than keep him isolated in a paddock or stall? Are we able, interested, and willing to train and care for a stallion and offer his services for breeding? If we sell him as a stallion, can we make sure he will live his life as naturally as possible in the company of other horses? If your answer to any of these questions is "no", then I suggest that you get your colt gelded. Finn was a lovely colt and he is just as nice as a gelding. If you geld, here's some tips from a non-vet person: Wait until fly season is over, because flies can be annoying to the horse, and they may contribute to infection of the wound. Use fly spray as needed to keep insects from bothering the wound. Choose a time when you expect the weather to be cool and dry. Geld on a day when you can be home for the next couple of days (like a Friday afternoon, if your vet is agreeable). Keep your horse in a quiet, grassy pasture where he'll have to do some walking, but he won't be harassed into fighting, playing, or doing a lot of trotting or running. There will be swelling and watery, bloody drainage for several days -- but there should never be any pus! If the swelling and drainage persists for more than a week and he is unusually quiet and withdrawn, he may have an infection. If so, don't ignore those warning signs -- ask the vet to come out to check the horse without delay. Except for the fact that it bothers me to cause pain to any animal, I don't feel too badly about having gelded Finn or having neutered our 1 male dog and 6 cats (4 females, two males). Some people are really dead set against castration of male animals on the theory that it takes away their "maleness" or naturalness or something like that. In the case of many male horses, dogs, cats, hogs, and cattle, though, keeping them "whole" means that they live much of their lives isolated from others of their own kind. This takes a whole lot more of their naturalness away than castration does, in my opinion. Good luck on your decision! DeeAnna
